More dairy farms go for solar panels

Dairy farmers FrieslandCampina increase role in energy transition

24 August 2018

The number of dairy farmers that will receive solar panels in the coming period through the FrieslandCampina Solar programme has more than doubled compared to last year. Initially 344 additional dairy farms would participate. Eventually it became 462. This brings the total number of participants in the FrieslandCampina Solar programme to 772 dairy farms. In total, 840,000 solar panels can now be installed. These provide half of the electricity requirements of FrieslandCampina’s production locations and offices in the Netherlands.

More than 20,000 solar panels per week

The FrieslandCampina Solar programme encourages dairy farmers to install solar panels on their roofs. The first roofs have now been delivered by supplier GroenLeven. They want to have finished 50 roofs by the end of 2018, and then speed up to install solar panels on 20 roofs per week. For example, about 22,000 solar panels per week can then be installed on average. Production of the solar power is made possible in part by an SDE + subsidy from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.

‘Electricity for twelve percent Dutch households’

In addition to the 772 dairy farms participating in the Solar programme, in recent years over 2,200 FrieslandCampina members have already installed solar panels on their own initiative. Recent research from students from the University of Amsterdam shows that the solar power that can be generated on the roofs of FrieslandCampina members can provide 12 percent of the total Dutch domestic electricity needs.